Most Influential Leaders in Finance to Follow in 2022 | Best Business Magazine | Exeleon Magazine

Embracing Excellence

I N - F O C US

Audwin Levasseur: Bridging the Gap Between Law and Finance I N - F O C US

Thane Stenner

Senior Portfolio Manager & Senior Wealth Advisor Stenner Wealth Partners+ of Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management

A W E A LT H C R E AT I O N SPECIALIST

LEADERS IN FINANCE

Maz Pawar: Tackling Capital Crisis

Trent Richards

A DVO C AT I N G S U P P O RT I V E L EA DE R S H I P

Embracing Excellence 600 N Broad St 5 Middletown, DE 19709, United States +1 (302) – 569 – 9387

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CONTENTS

12 THANE STENNER

CONTENTS

22 AUDWIN LEVASSEUR

CONTENTS

46 MAZ PAWAR

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F E AT U R E D S T O R Y

Senior Portfolio Manager & Senior Wealth Advisor Stenner Wealth Partners+ of Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management

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The most accepted formula for wealth creation is to save more than you spend and invest what remains wisely in order to grow your money. While this concept sounds simple, it is far from reality. In fact, the greatest obstacle that we face in increasing our wealth is often our own biases and behavior as an investor.

Most people do well because they research about investing, experience the highs and lows patiently, and never speculate.

Whether you enjoy picking individual stocks, or prefer to rely on professional management, the plain-spoken wisdom of Thane Stenner is unparalleled.

Thane Stenner is a Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Wealth Advisor of Stenner Wealth Partners+ at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management Canada and Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (USA) Inc. With a career spanning over 30 years, Thane's fascination towards investing and managing wealthy investors, family of ices, institutional iduciaries in North America remains the same.

During this journey, Thane and his team have been nationally and internationally recognized with numerous awards. They continue to raise the bar with their exceptional work as wealth advisors serving ultrahigh net worth clients and others.

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Thane also holds a cross-border license with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the USA, and with Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) in Canada. He's a global leader in Investment Consulting and an industry trendsetter for tailor-made strategic investment solutions.

At Stenner Wealth Partners+, he has built a competent team of professionals that provides their clients with honest counsel, experience, and disciplined objectivity.

Thane strives to provide every client with continuous support, establish strong personal relationships as well as better and more pro itable decisions for the long term.

Exeleon Magazine proudly covers Thane Stenner as the face of its latest In luential Leaders in Finance issue.

EXPONENTIAL RETURN ON KNOWLEDGE Staying true to the adage “Without labor, nothing prospers,” Thane was persistent and curious since his younger days. He had learned to focus on his efforts and push past the noise to create opportunities for himself. Following several hurdles and challenges, his exploration and interests introduced him to the world of inance.

This introduction motivated him to enrol in inance and graduate with an honors degree in investment analysis and portfolio management at Arizona State University.

Following his graduation, he went on to hold many notable corporate positions, and saw his hard work, passion, and experience compounding dramatically.

Later, Thane attended Harvard Business School's Executive Program wherein he explored powerful learning opportunities to help him achieve his potential. This gave him the chance to recharge, rethink, and re ine his management skills for his journey ahead.

EXPANDING IN TWO TERRITORIES

Thane's clients are family oriented, generationally focused, and globally savvy; each has their own unique wealth E X E L EO N M AG A Z I N E

F E AT U R E D S T O R Y

STENNER WEALTH PARTNERS+ UNIQUE APPROACH After all these years, Thane Stenner still feels joy and takes pride in each milestone of his irm. He shares that his irm has a wealth of knowledge, experience, and talent that is unmatched when compared to any other advisory irm in the industry. With a combined experience of over 85 years, Thane and his team have formed strong, long-lasting, and reliable relationships with all their clients.

Another key differentiator is his unique perspective for investors across different geographies —Canadian and American investors.

He helps them understand and expands their goals according to their inancial exposure and sometimes, beyond their local markets too. Thane claims, “Over many years, we have developed an acute understanding of our clients' speci ic needs, which allows us to tailor best-in-class custom solutions and strategies to achieve their long-term inancial objectives.”

Furthermore, Thane's team is especially quali ied through their licensing and network of knowledgeable experts to service clients with cross-border wealth considerations. Moreover, his team takes keen interest in the full gamut of other alternatives, especially the ones that have historically performed exceptionally well.

As his target clients are typically those with a minimum household account size of $10M USD and a net worth of up to $2.5B USD, Thane takes concrete yet actionable steps to help and manage their unique complexities.

His mantra “less is more” follows the logic of consistent pro it generation and hints at a different way of doing business. He mentions, “We're highly selective—our goal is to bring on only eight to ten new relationships per year. We also have a very disciplined type of client, which is where the team's experience with this segment of investor comes into play.”

Awards and Recognitions

for more reads, please visit- https://stennerwealthpartners.com/awards-and-recognitions

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Julia Cheng, FMA

Simon Jochlin

Senior Wealth Advisor

Senior Investment Associate

Janzen Lee, CFA

Becky Howarth

Seth Stenner, BBA

Wealth Advisor

Investment Associate

Investment Associate

Hope Sagun, MBA

Justynne Stenner, Bsc

Shelley Werner

Associate, Marketing & Communications

Associate, Client Services

Associate, Client Services

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F E AT U R E D S T O R Y

A HIGH-POWERED TEAM It is important to understand the motivation behind creating wealth. This is where leverage can help you accelerate your investments. Thane's team is the perfect example of inancial leverage, where professionals use their investment knowledge and skill to secure, guide, grow and attain your results.

His team consists of closely-knit committed, skilled, and motivated people, who drive optimal outcomes in every endeavor — whether it be money management or wealth creation. He believes in continuously improving himself, and his zeal to be better encouraged him to get licensed as a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley and as a Registered Representative with Morgan Stanley Canada Limited.

Previously, Thane also held many prominent positions in Morgan Stanley, including that of a Managing Director, Institutional Consulting Director, Alternative Investments Director, and International Client Advisor. During his term at Morgan Stanley, he founded The StennerZohny Group of Graystone Consulting, and as of September 2020, has advised on more than $20B USD in assets. Additionally, Thane was also part of the $336B USD Graystone Consulting division of Morgan Stanley, with an aggregated $2.7T USD of client assets under management. Thane's team was the #1 ranked California-based team on the Barron's Top 50 Institutional Consultants Nationwide List in 2020, and #3 ranked California-based team in 2019.

Thane was also the Founding Member, Chairman Emeritus, and former Managing Director of TIGER 21 Canada. TIGER 21 is an exclusive North American peer-to-peer network of high net-worth investors with approximately 1,000 members who collectively manage more than $100B USD in assets.

Interestingly, Thane was also a TIGER 21 Global Advisory Board Member previously.

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F E AT U R E D S T O R Y

“Nothing is more important to us than fostering long-term relationships with our clients, predicated on trust.”

Access the Value of Con idential Specialized Advice on Your Current Investments Toll-Free: 1.833.STENNER (783.6637) Website: www.stennerwealthpartners.com LinkedIn: @stennerwealthpartners BNN Bloomberg Brand Studio Podcast: SmartWealth with Thane Stenner https://stennerwealthpartners.com/bnnbloombergpodcasts 18

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creation story. Over the years, his team's boutique business structure, depth of experience, global investment opportunities, and robust intellectual capital have helped the irm to grow into one of the most respected advisory teams in North America.

Thane has a unique infrastructure in place that allows him to assist and service clients and their assets on both sides of the Canadian and U.S. border. This involves setting up the necessary accounts to implement portfolio solutions, while achieving the most advantageous tax treatment of his clients' investments.

“Nothing is more important to us than fostering long-term relationships with our clients, predicated on trust,” he shares.

Additionally, his cross-border license with FINRA in the USA, and with IIROC in Canada, helps him serve the investors across both territories. He further adds, “Our clients bene it from access to exclusive research and investment vehicles not easily accessible within Canadian investment portfolios.”

Thane's team can analyze and tap into global markets to provide valuable diversi ication, exclusive investment opportunities, and a distinctive perspective. This experience extends beyond traditional investing to a network of tax and accounting specialists, legal advisors, and wealth management solutions available globally to locally based clients.

BALANCING HIS PROFESSION AND PASSION Of all the areas of specialty, Thane is an expert in managing liquidity events for entrepreneurs and investors. Typically, this involves the sale of a business or the process of diversifying a large, concentrated stock position from a previous or current employer, or via an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Thane believes that a well-designed and diversi ied portfolio bene its the client in all situations. However, this approach has been found to be most advantageous in periods of market stress and volatility in public asset classes. In his own words, “Diversifying your sources of return are also about managing your risk, while maintaining a broad approach of assets that work together in a portfolio setting, which often leads to greater longterm outcomes than concentrated wealth.”

Besides this, he hosts a podcast produced by BNN Bloomberg Brand Studio called "SmartWealthTM with Thane Stenner" and is frequently quoted across leading media outlets like BNN Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Post, The Globe and Mail, among other inancial publications.

Throughout his career, he and his team have achieved numerous national and international awards and recognition for their work as Wealth Advisors serving ultra-high net worth clients, family of ices, and institutional iduciaries. He was the #6 nationally ranked Top Advisor in Canada by Wealth Professionals in 2022.

Thane's team also received the 2022 Top National Philanthropic Wealth Advisor Team of the Year

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from Charitable Impact Foundation Awards for facilitating over 90 donations totaling over $80M for donors across Canada. He was also featured in The CIO Today's "Most High Impact Leaders Making A Difference in 2022" and in The Top 100 Magazine's “Top 100 in Finance in 2021. He was also the #2 nationally ranked Advisor in Canada by Wealth Professionals in 2017, Outstanding Wealth Management Practice by Wealth Professionals in 2014, and winner of the Five-Star Wealth Management Award in 2012.

PERSONAL LIFE

Apart from running a successful wealth management irm, he is also very involved in philanthropy and charitable endeavors. He believes that giving back is an important responsibility as part of his community. “I have had the privilege of donating my time to over 15 charitable organizations in the last 33 years,” he asserts.

On a personal front, Thane is happily married and spends his free time with his family and enjoys traveling, hockey, ishing, golf, and various artistic and philanthropic outlets. He is also an avid Peloton spin class enthusiast. Thane Stenner is active in various professional associations including UBC Business Families Centre's Professional Advisory Committee and the Canadian ETF Association.

Additionally, he is deeply passionate and a generous contributor to many charitable organizations, including the YMCA, the BC Children's Hospital Foundation and Partnership for a Drug Free Canada.

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Axial Family Advisors

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IN-FOCUS

AUDWIN F. LEVASSEUR Bridging the Gap Between Law and Finance

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e all endure challenges and adversities at certain points of our life.

These obstacles bring out the best and worst of us: our patience, fortitude, empathy, and compassion. By facing dif iculties head-on and overcoming them, we evolve into better individuals who overcome future obstacles with clarity of con idence and strength of resolve that comes from knowing we have been through the worst and prevailed.

Audwin Levasseur is amongst the many leaders who has seen the ups and downs of life and has fought hard to win over his adversities. His will to overcome his family's inancial hurdles empowered him to turn his pain into his power and master the fronts of inance and law. He currently leads by example with the position of Family Wealth

Advisor at Axial Family Advisors in Florida, United States.

TAKING ON THE CHALLENGE

Audwin, in his early years, saw his family struggling to keep up with their inancial needs. He remembers distinctly how his mother moved to the United States with a dime in her pocket and how he used to make jokes with his older brothers that they were so broke, they had to save to be poor.

Due to such circumstances, everything Audwin did, whether scholastically, athletically, or virtually, was modeled after his mother's work ethic. He saw how his mother put it all on the line for the family, and his brother was working two to three jobs just to put food on the table. In those years, there was only one thing that

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stayed on top of Audwin's mind — inancially taking care of his mother. And that became his relentless goal.

Audwin learned arduously and graduated with High Honors at Rutgers University and then went on to get a Law Degree at the Columbia Law School. With a preference towards Finance and Law, Audwin sought to bridge the gap between both and eventually helped his family grow and protect their assets.

Following his education, Audwin commenced his professional journey with a private legal practice in the New York-Jersey metropolitan region that eventually continued for over a decade.

During his stint, he honed his skills and became an expert in complex

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civil litigation and commercial transactions, primarily in matters related to antitrust, insurance, and business-to-business transactions, employment, and real estate. He also obtained substantial experiential knowledge in wealth maximization and asset protection using insurance and an array of other asset vehicles before joining Axial Family Advisors.

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IT'S A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVES Audwin describes the modern world to be in a rapidly changing business environment facing the consequences of the pandemic and the unpredictability of domestic and foreign legislative affairs. As such, it wouldn't be possible for a single individual to navigate through contemporary legal and inancial systems and at the same time provide comprehensive

optimal solutions to clients. That's why Audwin leads through a 'systems approach' to client servicing, wherein professionals form an ecosystem and come to gain insights on inancial matters from a variety of perspectives.

In Audwin's dictionary, the situation is similar to a hospital where a patient comes under the supervision of multiple doctors who weigh in with their

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results for the client.

Audwin has a unique role to play in this robust ecosystem. He is brought in to assist on matters involving a mix of law and inance.

His focus is on estate planning, asset protection needs, and tax mitigation strategies for high-networth individuals and small businesses. His legal background comes as bene icial as it caters to attention to detail, assessments of risk, cost-bene it decision making, and white-glove client service all translating from law into inancial services. Furthermore, his work in real estate transactions, asset protection, estate planning, and litigation also empowers him to serve clients better.

And when it comes to operations, this team of seasoned professionals serve clients throughout the nation with a laser focus on helping families and small businesses. They actively stay abreast of changes in the tax code, evaluate potential impacts, and deliver proactive inancial plans—through in-depth tax and wealth retention advice, income tax planning, personal inance and retirement planning, and estate planning. professional opinions prior to the patient's surgery. In the same context, inancial professionals come together to offer a unique solution to the problem. Each client scenario is reviewed by a team of professionals who collaborate to provide insight on the client's needs and may even bring in outside professionals to assist when necessary. The involvement of insights gained from multiple perspectives brings life-changing

Additionally, Axial's professional relationships with CPAs, attorneys, and CFPs enable its wealth advisors to bring cutting-edge strategies in those areas to fruition.

A LESSON TO SUCCEED

While coming out of poverty has been a signi icant hurdle in Audwin's life, he also describes the loss of family members and prioritizing mental and physical health as his biggest roadblock.

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Over the years, he has learned that our mind and body also needs to be monitored, serviced, and protected, just like any other asset. This learning is something that Audwin wants upcoming young leaders to remember.

And for those who want to make a career in inancial services, his advice is to remain inquisitive, solution-focused, and actively seek insight across institutional lines. He wants them to remember that they are never too gray in the hair or long in the tooth to learn from their peers.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Audwin's professional journey in Law and Finance grew up in both institutional and entrepreneurial settings. Like any other world leader, he had his ups and downs and reached a proverbial fork in the road where he had to trust his instincts to chart his own course for success. And for the forthcoming years, he would continue to trust his instincts to take his business to new heights.

His biggest strength for the future is the size of Axial. Due to its sheer size, the business is large enough to handle high-net-worth individuals, small businesses, and complex matters. At the same time, it is small enough to offer personalized service. Audwin also pays gratitude to each member's commitment toward success and looks forward to the days when the company provides phenomenal service to clients nationwide.

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EASING FINANCIAL WORRIES AND FULFILLING DREAMS ®

LINDA REEVES, FINANCIAL SERVICES LEADER | CFP , CLU, CHFC, CLU

O

ften, while leading an everyday life amid all the joyous moments and mild differences, people tend to ignore proper inancial planning. Because barring economic meltdowns and a steep rise in in lation, inancial crises are hardly tangible.

Sometimes these take years to manifest with a discernible form.

For others like climatic disruption, job loss, etc. people hardly bother and invest little time. They satisfy themselves by channeling their incomes into some short-term plans or casual savings.

But good times are volatile. They never follow any linear pattern.

That is why when a crisis hits, inancial worries start scaring people. It creates a spectacle out of nowhere, driving people into despair.

In moments like these, hearing stories about the personal journeys of those in the ield help expand perspective. Linda Reeves, shares her life's journey. Moreover, she adds a humane touch, which makes

her all the more approachable. She feels empathetic support can always make people more open about their problems leveraging the expertise of a inancial adviser.

CHARTING THE COURSE

It was not a planned move for Linda to start her career in Finance. She was a Journalism major in college.

Linda had a lair for writing which helped further her professionally.

But time was not in her favor and unfortunately, when Linda graduated, the job market was going through a rough patch. She came across a job in HR Bene its and Retirement Administration and that is where she felt at home with Finance.

This stumbling upon Finance also made her realize that she could do something important and meaningful to help people. Early on, it was also bolstered by an experience where she had to help a man going through a lot of inancial and health-related troubles. It dawned on her that Finance was

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about illing a need “whether saving for different goals or a rainy day.”

In inancial services, Linda has already spent around 23 years.

When she started her career, she had no license and was not really adept at solving problems, but slowly she started growing from there and became a Managing Director and Department Head.

Most recently, she changed roles and joined Merrill Lynch Wealth Management.

Linda's journey also taught her that there is no alternative to “faith, hard work, a good attitude, curiosity, and teamwork.” In fact, these are the traits that one should maintain all the time. To be someone, to reach the next level, one should never despise work of lesser importance.

Even the grunt activities are crucial as they provide experience and this has inspired Linda to set a really high benchmark when it comes to standards of excellence.

Linda had a fantastic time during her growing period as a inance

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person with great mentors. But these opportunities always added something extra as her mentors had no ixed ethnic origin. They came from different ethnicities, both men and women, some younger and some older. Such a diverse background had a lasting impact on her and was enriching.

In her childhood days, she got to experience life in a close-knit working-class Liberian West African family. Her mother was in healthcare and worked hard for a living. “She worked three jobs” to put her through school. But it was she who sowed the seeds of this desire to help others in Linda. She always used to take in family members and friends to shelter them and she taught Linda and her brother “that a person should never be treated like a stranger when you take them into your home.” This sense of deep bonding, this lesson to treat others as equal, have inspired Linda to grow as an empathetic person.

At the same time, she saw her father recover from COVID 19 and eventually passed away from Dementia. He was a well-educated man with two Postgraduate degrees in Economics and Statistics, and inspired Linda to learn as much as possible.

Linda's insatiable thirst for knowledge and a desire to provide people with maximum opportunity led her to be a part of Annie T. Doe Memorial Foundation, Classroom Central, and the American Heart Association.

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With ATDoe, she and her fellow board members focused on providing education, women programs, and basic health care services.

Her life in inner-city New York in luenced her to work for students who don't get a chance to enjoy standard tools. As a Classroom Central board member, she, the staff and other supporters, distribute “free school supplies to largely diverse underserved teachers and students across 200 schools and 6 school districts in Charlotte NC.” She also contributes in notable ways to the American Heart Association to bolster studies related to various heart diseases, research projects, and inclusion of advanced tools to ease treatment.

THE DETERRENTS

There were several -- some personal and some in luenced by her surroundings. But one stood out; it was her fear. In her starting days, she was concerned about image. A more experienced colleague pointed it out and asked her not to put up a persona and use her individual qualities as a differentiating factor. This advice helped strengthen her as she grew in tenure and experience.

FINANCIAL LITERACY

During her irst job, when Linda was new in her of ice, a colleague named Tina taught her the importance of saving. She told her to be disciplined and save for retirement in each paycheck.

Over the years, she has increased the amount of that savings, and to do that, Linda personally follows three basic principles- live beneath her means, invest to ensure a reasonable chance of enjoying growth, and control expenses.

Generally, it is never too late to start saving. There are ways in which one can seek to achieve goals and professionals can help.

HER VIEWS ON LEADERSHIP

When it comes to leadership, Linda believes that every person has leadership qualities. Each person has a role in society and is able to inspire. It takes vision, service, leading by example and living with purpose.

Their work should also re lect a blend of honesty and a constant drive to challenge oneself with ongoing personal growth, curiosity, and humility.

This is foundational. Greatness means putting the team and mission ahead of personal agendas.

If you, do what is best for clients, then the organization wins every time.

As a successful Financial Services Leader, Linda's belief system is simple; “serve others, work hard, live courageously in faith and integrity.”

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Advocating Supportive Leadership Trent Richards

CEO, Metrix Coin

G

reat leaders start with a clear vision and then ind a way to inspire and motivate their people to turn that vision into reality.

This requires an understanding of what your team needs in order to work at their best, the ability to communicate with others clearly and effectively, and the intelligence

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to aim high, remain lexible, and create the right processes for your business.

Trent Richards, CEO of Metrix Coin Ltd, also strives to live by the same philosophy and enjoys inding the best people for the job at hand and acting as the most robust support for them to achieve growth. He believes that by simply de ining the end zone for each project

undertaken, collective success can be achieved alongside establishing a trusted leadership role that ensures that the end goal does not get out of reach.

Trent has worn several professional hats in his professional journey, spread across a number of verticals that ultimately led him to currently leading a digital currency company.

Exeleon exhibits the same through this exclusive feature.

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THE WILL TO BE A LEADER Trent can distinctly remember one school morning where he saw a man pushing a cart and dropping off a local newspaper to each household. His curious mind started to wonder how long it would take for the man to deliver the newspapers and back to the re ill stack to pick up the new ones.

He arrived at the most common deduction that it would take long for the man to walk to the re ill stack, deliver again, and then return to his delivery run. Soon, he started

seeing the same man regularly on the way to school and back home delivering the papers.

That observation ignited a spark in Trent's mind to do the same job, but only had the papers delivered to his home. Perceiving the situation, he then recruited ive of his friends to provide 20% of the total supply with the same push bikes on the way to school. He recalls, “We met at my house at 7.30 am, and each added their stack to their custom bikes, and all arrived at school before 8.45 am with the entire delivery round completed. They each received 10% of the total

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payment for the delivery round.”

These short rounds of clever work generated a lot of good, early income for Trent.

As a few years went by, Trent understood that he did not like the school and only wanted to participate in it as required by the law. He was more inclined towards doing business. “I could see that school taught people how to get a job and how to work for 40 years and survive their retirement years inancially if they were lucky. I wanted to learn from business leaders who created the jobs, not working the jobs,” elaborates Trent.

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Hence, when Trent was 17 years old, he started his business in the holiday industry, illing up empty hotel rooms with people for a discounted holiday. And before he could understand any better, the business transitioned into a fullledged marketing company as he surveyed his customers whilst they relaxed on holiday.

Subsequently, he only saw continuous growth in his entrepreneurial adventures, following his stint with the holiday industry. Trent turned to real estate, wherein he established a company selling investment property, followed by setting a Mortgage Broking Business, Financial Planning Business, Accountancy, Insurance Agency, Property Development, Land Acquisition Company, and Call Centers. The names on the list kept growing with a few 'fun' companies, including Nite Club, V8 Supercar Racing Team, Helicopter Aviation, and much more.

While this was all going well, years later, one of Trent's investments started to fall apart. The situation and Trent's will of seeing this investment through led him to become the CEO of Metrix Coin.

LEADING A DIGITAL CURRENCY FIRM

Over the few years of Metrix Coin's operations, the team at the business started to fall apart, affecting the overall sustainability of the project.

For Trent, the situation demanded either of two things; join the team as a volunteer to turn it around or let the investment go in vain.

To Trent, the irst option seemed a better choice. “I decided to reach 36

out to the team, who I knew very well over the years with many deals done between us. I came on board initially as a Business Development Manager and very soon after took the reins as the CEO,” details Trent.

“I believe that since I have been the CEO, we have seen a signi icant turnaround in the project. We have

now listed on multiple Centralized Exchanges as well as created a wrapped version of MRX allowing us to list on many Decentralized Exchanges as well.”

For Trent and Mendix Coin to grow much, he has had to learn a lot about this continuously expanding E X E L EO N M AG A Z I N E

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A Bright Future Trent has had a remarkable journey of the last two years, committing thousands of hours to his business, to his project. He is immensely proud of the current working team environment observing the enormous amounts of greatness the irm has achieved so far.

And for the future, Trent wants to grow the ecosystem of the irm, including Wage Street Gaming, MetriVerse NFT platform, Metrix Name Service, Metrix Alarm Clock, Web3 Development, and the in-progress Metrix Dollar DAO DeFi platform, to grow, even more, it has in the past couple of years.

All in all, Trent has lined up quite some things for the company and perceives the future to be bright.

and evolving space. While his earlier entrepreneurship ventures had 600+ staff members employed in over ive countries, his present team comprises community members around the globe. None of these people are paid for what they do. For Trent, this factor alone changes all the existing corporate ways of thinking and working. “The learning is simply ongoing!”

Trent also has quite a different style for leading the company from the front. He says, “Most CEOs meet on a monthly or quarterly timeline to plan the future Road Map and monitor their team's performance. I am personally the exact opposite to this and do not believe in simply sitting on a board to make conversation.” Hence, he proactively extends his skills to take on other

projects as well. His interest extends to cash low management, business development, team development, inter-project communications, partnerships, and much more.

Extending on the operational front, Trent believes that the real-life cases of his projects separate one from the other. And in the digital currency world, partnerships play an essential role in the space, which at the moment has worked splendidly for his business. For instance, the collaboration with Coins Paid allowed the irm to accept MRX, BTC, and ETH from external sources. The irm also removed the Paypal integration to strengthen the case for cryptocurrency further.

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A GUIDE TO TRAVERSING THE DIGITAL CURRENCY LANDSCAPE Being in the industry for over two years, Trent warns aspiring and emerging business leaders to stay vigilant against scammers. The current space occupies a chunk of people trying to scam other people.

And businesses in this realm spend a lot of energy and resources on these scammers across all the platforms. The newcomers must be wary of such nuisances while conducting business operations in the space.

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TUULA Jalasjaa

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SIMPLIFYING FINANCE TO EMPOWER WOMEN TUULA JALASJAA, FOUNDER, THE WOMEN’S COLLECTION INC.

T

he global economy is witnessing a fast-track growth even after facing crippling glitches in recent years.

This year, COVID-19 wreaked havoc and the impact of it is going to be long-lasting. However, governments have started implementing deft measures to bring back the balance and minimize the loss.

But even all these countermeasures cannot solve the riddle of the gross disparity that diverse economies witness in several countries. The gaps are of different types -- some display a difference between social strata, some reveal racial angles, while some showcase technological barriers. The types are endless, yet most of them can be weaved together based on one common thread - gender discrimination.

Women are always forced to take the backseat irrespective of their class, country, ethnic origin, and expertise in diverse ields.

It's not just a problem of a particular space-time; rather, it has been going on for ages, in fact, millennia. As its obvious outcome, the number of

women who can call themselves inancially literate is negligible. Only something radical can break these chains and ensure that women get their dues.

Tuula Jalasjaa has devoted her life to this quest for a method that can set women free inancially. Her entrepreneurial venture, The Women's Collection, re lects that intent. With the company, she is trying to impart how money works into as many women as possible to help them live their lives on their own terms and build a sustainable future.

TREADING THE PATH

No one incident prompted Tuula to think of this venture as her future.

Rather, it was a collection of events, things deeply disturbing in nature, that coaxed her into thinking of an alternative path that led to The Women's Collection's inception. Her experience in the inancial sector brought her face-to-face with events where she had to see irst-hand how women suffer due to their lack of inancial knowledge. And, she

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couldn't sit back and relax to witness their plights.

As a part of the industry, she knew well about all the complexities that shroud the sector. This was baf ling for women in particular as their inancial literacy was inadequate to grasp the nuances that run the ield.

It inspired her to set up The Women's Collection as a one-stop solution for women where they get all the needed “knowledge, resources and tools supporting inancial literacy, inancial wellness and inancial security for women.”

Bringing all these aspects under one umbrella is an endeavor on Tuula's part to make inance 'Simpler, Accessible, and Engaging.'

In the simplest form, “ inancial literacy is the ability to understand how money works.” It encompasses an in-depth understanding of “how someone makes, manages, spends, and invests money” and puts various methods into practice like “personal inancial management, budgeting, and investing.” Having this knowledge is becoming all the more pertinent as it can help stay

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abreast of the astounding hike in worldwide wealth. Otherwise, the chasm would grow deeper to create unsurmountable troubles.

It is also essential for women whose wealth and incomes are following an upward trajectory. The inancial course they often have to chart is far more complicated than that of men's. It's because women have a higher life expectancy and it can trigger “sudden additional and assumed inancial responsibilities relatively later in life.” In fact, the very nature of these unexpected effects is never predictable. They may come out as positive or negative depending upon the situation.

To plan well for such occasions, women should get acquainted with the sector's nooks and corners. This requirement for a thorough understanding spurs demand for knowledge regarding inancial literacy.

However, like most journeys into uncharted territories, proper guidance was a rarity, she had to endure hardships and face both good days and bad days. Something, she still does. But these twists and turns make the journey all the more exciting. Tuula has taken all the downs as a learning lesson and turned them into tailwinds for her growth. And when it comes to celebrating milestones, she never backs out as the downs she faces increases the values of her achievements.

Venturing out and inding a foothold in a chaotic world of entrepreneurs often comes with hassles that are different in nature from the 42

corporate world. A little preparation before taking the plunge sometimes is effective in understanding the process and foresee events that can impact the pro it margin in a positive way.

All these steps and successes, as Tuula feels, are driven by a steadfast desire to live the dream she has nurtured in her heart and a passion for creating a lasting legacy, which would make her daughters proud. In fact, she inds this passion as a potent weapon with which women leaders can arm themselves to get rid of roadblocks.

There were also things that Tuula learned the hard way. In her early days in the business, she tried to cover everything on her own and capitalize on the opportunities she got. But the process was time-taxing and she never had enough hours to manage it all.

To steer off this complexity, she started setting frameworks that provided her with time to assess opportunities. This showered her with positive results and, since then, the framework has become a thumb-rule for her.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT IN HER APPROACH?

To stay in sync with the time, Tuula has incorporated many levels of engagement into her system, and one of them is Smart Money for Her. This is a irst-of-its-kind online investing platform that uses roboadvisor designed exclusively for women in Canada. The system runs with a goal-based approach as its main driving force and it starts the process by asking women, “what are

you saving for?”

Smart Money for Her is a kind of practical lesson that has theories as to its preamble in learning modules offered on The Women's Collection platform. Since its implementation, it has emerged as a key component of the inancial literacy initiative as it provides a live resource to apply what they have learned during their course. Such innovations are also grabbing the attention of people from other countries. This creates a possibility of turning global in the coming years. It also infuses a desire in Tuula to democratize “wealth creation for women around the world.”

HOW TO LEAD PEOPLE?

It is not always easy to cling on to the venture one has and witnessing it withstand severe adversities. That is why people often leave the road in the middle and start considering other options. In such times, only passion and deep love for the project can keep a person moving forward. These virtues set the pace of the journey.

To emerge as a leader, an entrepreneur can take up different routes. But Tuula believes, “a true leader helps others reach their goals and leads by example.” It is a manifestation of her profound understanding of the method she followed for her own company, where she wanted to set an example by developing a “platform to educate women on inancial wellness to achieve their inancial goals.”

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MAZ PAWAR CEO & President | SA Capital Partners

TAC K L I N G CA P I TA L C R I S I S

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t is dif icult for an entrepreneurial venture to ind a solid foothold. Many things cascade down on it and create obstacles to slow down proceedings and as its result, most endeavors falter at an early stage. One of those signi icant impacting adverse forces is funding. Additionally, the initial Series procedures and the proper exit to close the deal play an important role in deciding the course of action for a business. For the lower middle market businesses, such adversities are like unwritten norms.

The capital crisis is a challenge that small businesses often ind insurmountable. For effective dealing or launching the product at an MVP stage, getting proper funding to continue the production or service is essential. But without proper liaison with investors or the lack of ability to convey the product ef icacy to fund providers, getting

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inancial support becomes a long shot.

In such cases, a company like SA Capital Partners comes forward with multiple solutions to provide stability to these ventures and offer proper guidance to ensure funding and exit. Not just that, it also makes the process easier than what venture partners often expect. The company boosts its client's growth by establishing credibility for itself.

This innovative inancial services irm has expertise in dealings regarding “mergers & acquisitions advisory and capital raising for lower middle market businesses.”

HOW DOES IT OPERATE?

The sector is getting dominated by well-established multinational irms who have earned a reputation for being bulge banks. They enter in deals of around $500 million, and

the boutiques operate when the dealings are $50 to $500 million.

But when the deal is insuf iciently large, problems start manifesting as there are several “overheads in running a broker-dealer-licensed irm.”

Investment bankers prefer bigger ish as their pro it rises with the prospect. In small businesses, that is a problem. But these small businesses form a substantial part of the US economy, yet they are largely ignored because the margins are not lucrative. The way out is to ind the right boutique that works in the same industry as the client and is an expert, a sort of challenge that ventures often fail to get past.

Then comes the exit strategy for which the right sort of planning can lead to an outcome that would be a win-win situation for both the client and its buyer or associate.

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But it requires a level of understanding of how a certain buyer can bene it from the product.

SA Capital Partners try to get close to these crises as much as possible to have a know-how of individual struggles. This gives the company an advantage in inding solutions that are unique and time-saving. At the same time, their idea of providing the right tool to complete any transaction gets bolstered by these notions.

The company has specialized in providing “comprehensive, integrated solutions to banking transactions.” It gets proper insights about customer requirements by leveraging the “breadth of services and industry knowledge.” Its mission includes an attempt to ensure funding for all small businesses and ease the process for those who get bog down by large fees charged by investment banks.

The offerings cover experienced handling of procedures in most transactions- something the company has gained by partnering with venture capital groups, private equity groups, family of ices, investment banks, and other lenders. This also helps in introducing small business owners to various other players to complete any transaction.

WHAT ARE THE METHODS?

The company has categorized its offerings into four distinct aspects raising capital, selling businesses, acquiring other businesses, and corporate advisory. These four aspects cover most of the needs of a new venture and SA Capital 48

Partners' holistic approach helps companies avoid many technical dif iculties.

Raising capital is not so easy as investors often ind clari ication regarding products misleading or insuf icient. That is why inding a source becomes an uphill battle for companies as how much a company can garner before taking the next leap is important. The entire process needs patience and determination. SA Capital Partners has the right tools to create space for effective investments. This can help companies in focusing on their business, leaving aside their worries about inancial support.

However, after receiving initial funds and setting up prospects for itself, ventures often look for selling their businesses as their possible exit route. But this becomes effective only if the client knows about the prospect of his own company and how his buyer can pro it from the acquisition. When the client is aware of every aspect of his and his buyer's businesses, earning pro it from the dealing becomes easier.

When it comes to bringing different companies together, work cultures often create problems. If these are contradictory in nature, then mismanagement could derail the growth from its projected path. But if they are aligned well, even a lowvalue business can evolve into a much higher one. In SA Capital Partners, adept analysts use their understanding to ensure target acquisitions and do the necessary research to form strategies.

A substantial growth requires proper advisory and SA Capital

Partners covers several aspects like owner advisory, business growth advisory, business/investor readiness, and others. The company's solutions sprouts from a proper study of the business operations of the clients and these are quick and targeted. Working with myriad industries has given the company a unique ability to identify problems faster than expected and solutions are often precise, which bolsters growth and increases pro it margin.

MAZ PAWAR'S CONTRIBUTION

As the CEO & President of SA Capital Partners, LLC., Maz Pawar, has the responsibility of overseeing all the operations that are happening in the company this includes capital raising & M&A activity, forming a strong strategic vision and developing a direction for the irm, along with other Senior Managing Directors.

His endeavors have secured operations with several industries like technology, healthcare, and industrials. He has also been a part of over 100 engagements over his career. Pawar has working experience in companies like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Houlihan Smith & Company, and Wells Fargo Capital in corporate inance and investment banking roles.

Pawar's knowledge of diverse backgrounds in capital inancing, debt capital markets, and business advisory has helped streamlining the company's operations. He has brought in the best skill sets to ensure his company's growth and help out his clients.

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Maz Pawar is also a part of the Pawar Capital Investments, which is a family-backed private investment irm that engages itself in acquiring, recapitalizing, and assisting various operations of the US-based lower middle-market businesses.

The growth of the company is properly aligned with the emerging needs of its clients. This has eased

the process of establishing itself as futuristic. At the same time, entrepreneurs are inding it more comfortable to rely on the company to plan their strategies for better growth. The company also provides clarity to its customers to ensure that they remain aware of all the steps. Such a blend inspires depth in operations and the gravity it has instilled in its performance has

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helped in earning trust from clients.

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